Does Spain dedicate too much public money to helping its companies, banks and economic sectors? According to the annual report on state aid published this Wednesday by the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), the country allocates almost six times less than Germany, or half if measured in terms of GDP. It is also in nineteenth position in the European classification.
The report from the Competition Authority corresponds to the year 2021 and includes everything from aid from the Moves plan to buy electric cars to those returned by the banks rescued in 2012, including the 10,000 million fund with which Sepi rescued dozens of strategic companies affected by the pandemic. It is also published a day after the Government has ordered Sepi to buy up to 10% of Telefónica's shares, which fuels the debate about State intervention in companies.
The new flow of state aid in the EU is one of the effects of the pandemic, in which the partners agreed to modify the regulations that require notification of state aid to the European Commission. The measure was taken advantage of by several countries to rescue companies in strategic sectors hit by covid.
The CNMC analyzes the 2021 financial year to conclude that the granting of aid during that year stood at 1.69% of GDP, compared to 1.28% in 2020. The percentage is the nineteenth highest in the EU and contrasts with the 4.58% from Malta, 3.47% from Hungary and, above all, 3.37% from Germany, which occupies third position. France with 2.53% or Italy with 1.77% are ahead of Spain.
In absolute terms, the State aid that year granted by Spain amounted to 20,447 million euros, almost a sixth of the 121,211 million of Germany and well below the 63,200 million of France or the 31,526 million of France.
Of the amount in Spain, 61%, or 12,484 million euros, corresponded to aid against covid, 1.03% of GDP, compared to 63,303 million in Germany, 39,918 million in France or 22,940 million in Italy.
Spain was not the country that dedicated the most money to measures to tackle the effects of the pandemic despite the fact that, of the nominal amount of resources granted in the EU, worth 405,470 million, the country received 81,310 million, the third largest amount and the highest if measured in terms of GDP.
In the Spanish case, regional development was one of the main objectives of aid, including that dedicated to consumers, which is equivalent to 42%, compared to the 11% average in the rest of the EU. The weight of aid dedicated to the environment and energy efficiency was 41%, compared to 55% in the EU.
The report also updates the aid granted to banks and companies. Among the latter, the one that received the largest amount, with nearly 225 million euros, was Telefónica, ahead of companies assisted by Sepi, such as Hotusa, with more than 200 million, or Ávoris, with a similar amount. The Canarian airline Binter received about 180 million, ahead of Iberia's nearly 130 million.
In the case of banks, no new aid has been granted since 2014. The latest data available shows that 5,225 million euros of aid to banks have already been recovered and that, of those corresponding to Bankia, now integrated into CaixaBank, the recoverable amount is 6,344 million euros at the end of 2022, compared to 4,492 million a year earlier, thanks to the improvement in the book value. A year ago, the Council of Ministers approved to once again extend the divestment period in Bankia until December 2025.
The report mentions the aid from the Moves plan for the purchase of electric cars, but does not expressly mention the different Perte to modernize and decarbonize business sectors such as the automotive industry.
The CNMC also calculates that 69% of sectoral aid is allocated to agriculture and fishing, compared to 45% in the EU, and 31% to the development of different sectors, compared to the 48% average among EU countries.
